


A Moment in the Life

by Hullabamoo



Category: Astoria Fate's Kiss, Labyrinths of Astoria (Visual Novel)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-12 21:57:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5682256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hullabamoo/pseuds/Hullabamoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being an agent isn’t always sunshine and medals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Moment in the Life

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: Medusa/MC(Amy Scott)
> 
> Rating: T(mentions of violence, injuries)
> 
> Spoilers: None, but it does take place after season 1 and Medusa’s special
> 
> Author’s Note: Inspired by an amazing doodle done by dashingicecream(.tumblr.com). MC in this fic is named Amy after her char Amy Scott, as thanks for all the gr9 art they’ve done for Astoria!

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Accidents happen. Mistakes could be made. A second of misattention could turn a whole situation on its ear, aura crackling and guns firing. All the seminars and manuals in the world couldn’t prepare an agent for the instance in which everything went wrong; in that moment only instinct could help them get out alive.

Sometimes a glowing magical ring helped too.

Clutching at her shoulder, Amy glanced around the trashed bar, searching for any signs of the suspects who had escaped in the chaos. Glass crunched under her boots as she staggered about, and she had to nudge a broken chair leg out of the way to pick up the jacket underneath.

“Abderus, over here.”

Disengaging from one of the agents who had responded to their distress call, Abderus limped over. “It’d be lucky as hell if that had a wallet in it.”

Amy snorted. “Judging by how this night has gone, I don’t think luck is on our side.” She upturned the outer pockets, no wallet or id in sight, and sighed.

“I don’t know,” Abderus said as she unzipped the inner cache. “We’re alive and have some suspects in custody. Plus the owner owes H.E.R.A a favor, so we won’t get sued out the nose for causing this mess.”

“So it’s not a total loss, is what you’re telling me.” Plastic crinkled under her fingers and Amy pulled a small bag out. A round bauble sat inside, barely the size of her forefinger.

Abderus reached for it. “You did hear me say we’re alive. That’s not always the case when it goes south like that.” He raised the bag to light, turning it side to side before humming and calling over a tech. “This has a faint aura to it, kind of like the Gods’ artifacts. It could be a clue as where they ran off too.”

“Which the two of you can look into tomorrow.” A new voice joined, and they both jumped as Cyprin marched up, arms crossed and tired look in their eyes. “I’d ask what happened here, but I think the situation speaks for itself. How bad are your injuries?” Despite addressing both agents in front of them, they stared directly at Amy.

Flustered, she made a noncommittal noise and faced the ground, trying not to flinch as the motion pulled at the adhesive tape. “The medics patched us up, we’ll be fine.”

“That’s not what I asked.” Before Amy could react, Cyprin slipped behind her. Warmth blossomed around the tattered collar of her shirt and only a soft touch on her nape kept her from turning around. Multi-hued light flickered in the corner of her eye, a soft huff escaping before Cyprin dispelled their aura. They reappeared, frown set firmly in place.

“You two are done for the night. Go home and get some rest. I’ll call you if we get any information from this, “ they snagged the bauble from Abderus, “ or the suspects in custody.”

“But--”

Cyprin’s jaw twitched. “You’re _done_ for the night, agents.”

Amy had made the mistake of arguing with Cyprin once and wasn’t inclined to ever repeat the experience. That added with the fading painkillers and the ache spreading over her ribs and lower back, made her swallow any argument she had been about to make.

After a minute with no more protests, Cyprin gestured to the door and escorted them outside. A company car sat idling, the driver nodding when Cyprin ordered her to take them both straight home.

Amy sighed and leaned against the window, watching the sun as it finished setting over the horizon. Fingers drumming against her thigh, she startled when a rough hand covered them.

“You alright?” Concern deepened the furrows of Abderus’ brow.

Pulling her hand out from underneath his, Amy jerked her head in confirmation. “Just fine.”

Despite her turning back to the window, he didn’t take the hint, instead grunting and shifting in his seat to get her attention. “You might want to go get checked out at the hospital. The medical floor at H.E.R.A. has a complete line of--”

“I said I’m fine.” Amy snapped. “I’ve been in fights like that before, and I’ve been injured far worse. If Cyprin hadn’t shown up, I’d still be out there looking for clues. The same as you.”

He didn’t respond. Amy suspected she’d hear about this later, probably in said supervisor's office, but she wasn’t in the mood to care about anything besides a quiet car ride. Focusing on the scenery, she blinked when the crowded buildings gave way to the suburbs, the car turning onto a familiar street.

It stopped right in front of Medusa’s house.

“We’re here ma’am.” When Amy didn’t immediately move, the driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Cyprin said to drop you off here. Was there somewhere else-”

“No! No, this is fine.” She would’ve ended up here anyway. Maybe it was a bit earlier than expected, but her and Medusa switched between houses so much that each place had stopped being _hers_ , and started being _theirs_.

One foot out the door, Amy turned to Abderus and offered what she hoped was a convincing smile. “I know you’re worried about me, but I’ll be fine. See you in the morning.” The door clicked shut before he could reply, and she tapped the trunk of the car lightly as she curved around it to the sidewalk.

Music drifted through the door as Amy fit her key into the locked and entered the house. Judging by the scattered piles of books, Medusa was in the middle of one of her reorganizing frenzies. Seizing the opportunity to slip by unchecked, Amy headed for the bedroom, calling out as she did so.

“Medusa! I’m back.”

A thud echoed from one of the side rooms. “Amy? You’re early. Give me one second--”

“No rush!” Amy tugged her shirt overhead and tossed it into a shadowed corner by the dresser. “I’m going to get cleaned up. Take your time.” Ducking into the bathroom, she fought the urge to slam the door and push the lock. A quick twirl in front of the mirror confirmed what the paramedics had told her; she needed to dress her wounds again soon or risk an infection. The first aid kit she pulled from the cabinet was missing some bandages and a bottle of disinfectant, but it still had enough gauze and tape to replace the dirtied compresses.

Despite them stinging like angry hornets, Amy first dabbed the scrapes on her sides with a liberal amount of alcohol before sticking some store brand bandaids over them. When she tried to treat the wound on her shoulder, however, it proved just out of reach, causing her to twist and turn into several awkward positions while she tried to pry off the bandage.

“C’mon.” In her flailing, Amy failed to notice the precarious state of the kit on the sink and one nudge of her hip sent it tumbling to the ground. She jerked and tried to catch it, but the sudden motion pulled at her shoulder and pain lanced down her arm.

“Ah, ow!” Forced into a crouch, she dug her fingers into seizing muscle, trying to rub away the static before it grew into a full blown cramp. Something wet dribbled down her back, a faint line of red following gravity around the curve of her hip before dripping to the floor. Eyes squeezed shut, Amy startled when a light knock sounded at the door, the hinge creaking as it was pushed the rest of the way open.

Medusa stood in the threshold. “Amy, are you alright?” She asked, fingers hooked in the torn hole of Amy’s shirt, grey eyes wide with surprise as she took in the state of her girlfriend and bathroom.

“You’re hurt.” Immediately she knelt down next to Amy, reaching for one of the scattered rolls of gauze. “When did this happen? Why didn’t you say anything?” 

Amy didn’t answer. Chin tucked against her chest, she settled into a kneeling position as well, refusing to look anywhere but the floor. She suppressed a flinch when fingers picked at the tape holding the bandage in place, Medusa’s touch gentle as she pulled it away from the seeping wound.

A sharp intake of breath preceded another touch, this one lower and wetter as the blood was wiped away from her skin. “This needs stitches. Let me pack it again and then I’ll take you to the hospital--”

Amy jerked out of reach, cutting her off. “It’s just a bad scrape. The medics already looked at it. All I need to do is keep it clean.” The excuse didn’t sound very convincing, especially when her voice cracked halfway through, but Amy stuck with it, reaching up to unbind her hair and let it fall over her shoulders, halfway concealing her injury.

It didn’t even give Medusa pause.

She brushed Amy’s hair out of the way and shuffled closer. “I know a knife wound when I see one, Amy. Whoever did this got close.”

Too close. Unbidden, Amy’s throat seized, and it took several deep breaths before she felt capable of speech. Her memory of the fight was a blur, full of shouts and flashes, except for the one second everything had come into crystal clarity. The hairs on the back of her neck standing up. Sharp metal pricking at her skin.

“Amy.”

Only when Medusa wiped away a tear did Amy realize she was crying. Quickly she scrubbed at her face, turning her back to Medusa once more. Silence stretched between them and Amy feared any second Medusa would insist and drag her to the closest hospital.

Instead plastic crinkled as Medusa pulled out fresh antiseptic wipe. Her fingers probed lightly at the edges of the wound, holding it open as she dabbed alcohol into every corner. When Amy twitched in response to the sting, she murmured something nonsensical and kissed the curve of her shoulder.

Minutes later, after sticking a final piece of medical tape over the bandage, Medusa leaned in, arms wrapping around Amy’s waist and chin settling on her shoulder.

“Tell me what happened?”

It was impossible to resist such a gentle request. Placing her hands over Medusa’s, Amy leaned back into her embrace. It took a few false starts before she found her voice, and even then it cracked as she stumbled through an explanation of what had happened moments before the brawl broke out.

“I-I..I messed up.” Tilting her head back, Amy stared at the ceiling. The light blinded her, making it easier to see the past clearly, see exactly where she had gone wrong. “We knew they were hostile and wouldn’t need much provoking to attack. I thought because we were in public it would keep them calm. But I was wrong.” She paused, waiting to see if that was enough for Medusa to let her off the hook.

A breath ghosted over the shell of her ear and a brush of lips followed. “You’ve been wrong before,” Medusa said, a gentle squeeze taking away any sting in her words. “And it barely slowed you down.”

The unspoken question hung in the air. What was different about this time? What had happened to cause the normally gungho Amy to end a mess of the bathroom floor?

Amy swallowed the answer like a lump of bile. Or she tried to, but what didn’t show in her words appeared in her body, trembles shaking all of her limbs to the point where even a white-knuckled grip on Medusa’s hand didn’t still them. Again a chill ran down her spine, the cold solidifying in the center of the knife wound gouged in her skin.

“I was scared.” The confession fell from her lips, so quiet that she was certain Medusa hadn’t heard it. Except the body behind hers tensed, arms pulling them flush. Amy turned in Medusa’s grasp, cutting off whatever she had been about to say and hiding in the curve of her neck. “Yes, I know, I’ve been scared before too. But this..this was different.”

Silent, Medusa leant back against the sink cupboard, pulling them both into a more comfortable position while still allowing Amy to cling to her. One arm went around her waist and the other around her shoulders, careful to avoid her injuries. “What made it different?”

Amy mumbled, another sniffle escaping before she could stop it. “You weren’t there.” When Medusa startled she squeezed her tight. “Wait, wait, let me explain.” Looking up, she shushed her with a hand over her mouth, holding it there until Medusa relaxed and nodded her head. “I don’t mean that I expected you to be there, or that you should have, I just,” she paused, hand moving to cup Medusa’s cheek. “All the other times I’ve been in trouble, you’ve been there. Yes I’ve been scared and hurt and all of that before, but you were always there with me and, well.”

She blew out a hard breath. “This was the first time you weren’t, and I can’t help but think that maybe I’m not cut out for this agent stuff after all, that it was only because you were there that I did so well in the first place.” Dropping her hand, Amy ducked her head, trying to avoid the stare she could feel boring into her.

Silence reigned for a long minute. Eventually curiosity overtook shame and Amy glanced back up, needing a hint as to what Medusa was thinking. There was no answer to be found, however, Medusa’s expression unreadable and grey eyes distant as she met Amy’s gaze.

Amy blinked first. Muttering some nonsense, she went to tuck her face into the groove of Medusa’s shoulder only to be stopped as a hand cupped her chin.

“I’m torn,” Medusa sighed out, forefinger curling under Amy’s jaw and bringing them face to face again. “Because I honestly want to tell you to quit.” Guilt drew her brows together, a pink tongue flicking out over red lips before Medusa continued. “To stay home- and safe- with me. But..” Her fingers found the bandage on Amy’s shoulder, pressure light as she stroked it.

“But that’s not you. You, Amy Scott, are a vivacious and vibrant woman, with the most unfailingly kind heart.” A fond smile tugged at Medusa’s lips and Amy answered it with a shy one of her own, face growing red from the praise. “And you’re the bravest person I’ve ever met. I have no doubt in my mind that you are meant to be a H.E.R.A field agent, and that’s from someone who’s seen you in action.”

Somehow the world tilted back into place. The knot in Amy’s chest unwound, coaxed apart by those simple words. “Really?” She asked, wanting the extra confirmation.

“Really.” Medusa nodded. She leaned forward to press her lips Amy’s forehead, murmuring a soft ‘oh sweetheart’ when she burst out crying.

Amy snuffled and shook her head, a shaky laugh escaping as Medusa tried to kiss the tears away. “I’m fine, I’m fine. I really will be fine.” Her arms wound around Medusa’s neck and she fell into her embrace, their heads resting against one another as Amy cried and Medusa whispered soft sounds of comfort.

Soon the sobs subsided into soft hitches. Scrubbing her face with both hands, Amy shifted out of Medusa’s lap and onto her knees, answering the questioning look with a smile. “I’m okay now, I don’t need to keep snotting on you.”

Medusa’s quirked eyebrow made her laugh. “Implying that I’d be bothered by such a thing. You do know you drool on me every night, right?”

They laughed together. Medusa was the first to stand, offering a hand to help Amy to her feet. She fussed for a moment, circling around to check each of Amy’s bandages before pulling her into another tight embrace.

“I don’t suppose I can convince you to let me take you to the hospital?” At Amy’s shake of the head she sighed and guided her towards the living room. “Then I’m going to have to settle for spoiling you at home. C’mon, I’ll order some food and make some tea. If your wound keeps sealing we can take a bath together in a few hours.”

Amy nodded and followed willingly. But before Medusa could pull away and head for the phone, she tugged on their joined hands and brushed a kiss over Medusa’s knuckles.

“I love you.”

The answer was immediate. “I love you too.” Medusa smiled and leaned down for a proper kiss, brushing some of Amy’s hair aside when she straightened. “Now let me take care of you.”

And like that, together, the night fell away around them.

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send me all the prompts


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